Gas Pipes, Water Rates and Con Ed Increases, INFRASTRUCTURE 776

East Village Marks One Year Since Deadly Explosion Saturday (NY1) Saturday marks one year since the EastVillage gas explosion that killed two people and leveled three buildings on 2nd Avenue. Ceremonies are being held in the neighborhood Saturday to commemorate the blast's victims, Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Locon Yac. The explosion displaced a number of people, including Mildred Guy, who had lived in a seven-room, rent-regulated apartment in one of the destroyed buildings for nearly 50 years. She lost everything in the explosion. And — one year later — she still has a hard time coming to the site. "It sort of came upon me," Guy said. "I was dreading this anniversary, this year. I didn't want to be around. It happend. I'm in a happy place, a good place. I'm going forward." Guy now lives a few blocks away, in a studio apartment. She was able to rebuild her life after raising nearly $40,000 on a crowdfunding website. Five people are facing criminal charges in connection with the explosion.

East Village Marks One Year Since Deadly Explosion Saturday (NY1) Saturday marks one year since the EastVillage gas explosion that killed two people and leveled three buildings on 2nd Avenue. Ceremonies are being held in the neighborhood Saturday to commemorate the blast's victims, Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Locon Yac. The explosion displaced a number of people, including Mildred Guy, who had lived in a seven-room, rent-regulated apartment in one of the destroyed buildings for nearly 50 years. She lost everything in the explosion. And — one year later — she still has a hard time coming to the site. "It sort of came upon me," Guy said. "I was dreading this anniversary, this year. I didn't want to be around. It happend. I'm in a happy place, a good place. I'm going forward." Guy now lives a few blocks away, in a studio apartment. She was able to rebuild her life after raising nearly $40,000 on a crowdfunding website. Five people are facing criminal charges in connection with the explosion.

Feds Con Ed Must Make Gas Lines Safer

In the wake of the 2014 gas explosion in East Harlem, federal officials told New York City, state regulators and Con Edison that they must improve pipeline safety features by the end of September, Capital New Yorkreports:

New York City inspections of more than 50 buildings in the EastVillage following a fatal March 26 explosion and fire have turned up violations related to gas lines, fire safety and illegal construction, the Journal reports: * In Aftermath of East Village Blast, Business Owners Pledge to Rebuild (NYT) A dozen restaurants, clothing shops and other establishments were either damaged or left financially crippled in the aftermath of a gas explosion that leveled three buildings last month.*

Diner near NYC blast to be evicted after ‘illegally siphoning gas’(NYP) LongtimeEastVillage Ukrainian diner The Stage Restaurant will be evicted this month from its Second Avenue digs for illegally siphoning gas across the street from the site of the March 26 blast that killed two, according to court documents. The 35-year-old restaurant “illegally and dangerously altered the piping and gas lines in the building,” according to the eviction notice dated April 14. The notice also said the eatery “illegally and improperly” siphoned gas from Con Edison.

A plumber who worked at the East Village building where two people died in an explosion last month has admitted to illegally tapping into a gas line there — but said the landlord’s son ordered him to do it, The Post has learned. The unidentified tradesman confessed to rigging a gas-supply system for apartments at 121 Second Ave. but blamed it on his boss to “deflect” any fault from himself, law-enforcement sources said. Authorities haven’t decided whether to cut a deal with the worker in exchange for his testimony or use his statement against him, one source said.

Authorities are building a criminal case against the owner of the EastVillage building that blew up last week and left two people dead when it collapsed, sources told The Post Wednesday. An investigation into possible illegal plumbing work to supply the apartments in 121 Second Ave. with gas from a building next door has expanded to include landlord Maria Hrynenko, law-enforcement sources said.

The former lieutenant governor and MTA chairman is making a compelling argument Gov. Cuomo would do well to heed. Ravitch says the $5 billion-plus New York now has from ­corporate settlements should be spent exclusively on infrastructure. We’d go further: Use these billions to pay for the as-yet-unfunded Tappan ZeeBridge. In an interview on Albany TV, Ravitch called investment in infrastructure New York’s “greatest need.” Nothing else, he said, would “give us a shot at rebuilding our economy,” especially upstate. It’s also in keeping with standard principle that “recurring revenue should be used for recurring expenditures” while “one-shot revenue should be used for one-shot expenditures.” In New York City, he noted, it’s not only the rule, it’s the law — “and that’s the reason why New York City has never had a fiscal crisis since 1975 and never will.” We’d go further: Use these billions to pay for the as-yet-unfunded ­Tappan ZeeBridge.* Editorial: Gov. Cuomo must act to open Port Authority records — and the clock is ticking(NYDN) Secret empire no more Gov. Cuomo must open act to open Port Authority records

SPOTLIGHT: INFRASTRUCTURE
* Drivers on the Tappan Zee Bridge
and throughout the New York State Thruway Authority system won't pay
higher tolls in 2015—at least that's the plan for now, the Journal News
reported on Monday: http://goo.gl/CeIeR4
* The contractors building the new
Tappan Zee Bridge are sending roughly $5 million worth of steel
materials to Delaware for emergency repairs to the state’s crippled
I-495 bridge, USA Today reports: http://goo.gl/kRbubG
* Environmentalists are questioning
Cuomo administration plans to help pay for a new Tappan Zee Bridge with
$511 million in low-cost loans from a fund dedicated to sewage, drinking
water and clean water projects: http://goo.gl/ifuDOu

* But the Poughkeepsie Journal
reports that the loan will be used for environmental protection and
restoration projects related to the bridge's construction, including
protecting water quality and marine life in the Hudson River estuary: http://goo.gl/r0ueYsBREAKING – “FDNY to increase response to reports of gas leaks,” by AP’s Jonathan Lemire: “The
New York City Fire Department will now have a much greater role in
responding to reports of possible gas leaks, according to an order made
by Mayor Bill de Blasio in response to the March explosion that leveled
two East Harlem buildings and killed eight people. The mandate to
increase the oversight of the fire department -- with hopes of
dramatically improving response times to reports of leaks -- is at the
centerpiece of a report obtained by [AP] before its release on
Wednesday. …“‘Mayor de Blasio is committed to improving New York City's
infrastructure,’ said City Hall spokesman Phil Walzak, ‘and making the
critical investments and changes needed to protect the health and safety
of New Yorkers, and maintain our city's competitive edge.’ Previously,
residents who smelled gas were often told to call their gas utility or
dial 311, the city's information hotline.” http://goo.gl/iU04uzSPOTLIGHT: INFRASTRUCTURE * State legislators are tackling
transportation and housing infrastructure this session, including
reforming the Port Authority, spurring innovative projects and
revitalizing upstate downtowns, City & State reports: http://goo.gl/rx34IG* VICE magazine takes a look at
“Seaport City,” former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to build an
embankment in lower Manhattan that would guard against rising sea levels
while doubling as a real estate development: http://goo.gl/6enXL6* The delay in the opening of the
No. 7 train’s new station on the far West Side of Manhattan can be
traced to the failure of a custom-designed, Italian-made elevator, The
New York Times reports: http://goo.gl/bi5be6* State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli
approved a $4.7 million contract with Limnes Corp. of Whitestone to
paint 13 bridges in Nassau and Suffolk counties after the state put an
integrity monitor in place: http://goo.gl/YAJIT8

* The Times calls on the federal
government to institute stronger rules governing the combustible crude
oil shipped through the state on railroad lines, citing the risk posed
by older tank cars: http://goo.gl/OOrZkK

By PATRICK McGEEHAN

The complaints have risen since a deadly explosion in Harlem, and
officials are asking what expenses the company is cutting to compensate.

* A Buffalo News three-part series
takes an in-depth look at the potential for hydrofracking in New York’s
Southern Tier region and explores the industry’s benefits and costs: http://goo.gl/JcznKw* The overhaul of New York’s energy
grid may rely heavily on energy storage, including batteries that store
excess power gathered from wind and sunlight to be used later at times
of peak usage, Capital New York writes: http://goo.gl/FdGCAs* Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “Reforming
Energy Vision” initiative would take deregulation a step further, make
utilities the “traffic cops” and spur decentralized generation, City
& State reports:http://goo.gl/lEuQ8Y

New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is proposing
legislation to require the state's electric and gas utilities to assess
their systems' vulnerability to severe weather events. [Crain's New York Business]

AG Eric Schneiderman will propose legislation requiring the state’s electric and gas utilities to prepare for climate change to prevent widespread power outages.

* MTA CEO Tom Prendergast weighed in
on the transit system’s next capital plan, saying that climate change
and the shifting expectations of young riders need to be addressed, and
suggested how to go about securing more funding for transportation
investment: http://goo.gl/UhJNqd* Forty Eight percent of New York
state residents said they would be willing to pay higher taxes for
better roads, bridges and other infrastructure according to a City &
State Reports poll that will be released shortly: http://goo.gl/lPHVes

The state proposal to decentralize the system to smaller stations that use solar or wind power could lead a national revolution.* President Barack Obama, while pushing
for federal transportation funds, touted the Tappan Zee Bridge project
during a visit and announced plans to replicate the “fast track” process
elsewhere, the Journal News reports: http://goo.gl/kWDPiO

* The New York City Independent Budget
Office analyzed how rates are set for the city’s water and sewer system,
including the impact of the annual rental payment the Water Board must
pay the city: http://goo.gl/MQFl0X* The state is proposing to turn its
electric utilities into a new entity that would buy electricity from
hundreds or thousands of small generators and set prices for the
electricity and for costs of running the power grid, The New York Times
reports: http://goo.gl/7NM7rF

* With last month’s acquisition of
Direct Energy Business’ heating-oil holdings in New York City, former
mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis has not only become one of the
largest oil-heat industry players, but he also has become a darling of
the green movement, Crain’s writes: http://goo.gl/D7tU7F

Toothless Public Service Commission The Public Service Commission, the
statewide entity that oversees all gas utilities, levied just two fines
for $2,000 in 2013, the lowest amount collected since 2001, Few Fines for Utilities(WSJ)

* New York ranks near the bottom in
return for spending on highways and bridges, according to a
soon-to-be-released report from the Reason Foundation, although at No.
43, it is ranked slightly better than it was two years ago, City &
State reports: http://goo.gl/NE3oua

The de Blasio administration is set
to propose increasing New York City’s water and sewer rates by 3.35
percent—the lowest such increase since fiscal year 2006, the Journal reports: * Even though NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the lowest water and
sewer rate increase since 2006, Queens Councilman Rory Lancman still thinks he’s breaking a campaign promise.

The Reforming Energy Vision will be rolled out and refined over the next year

Beneath Cities, a Decaying Tangle of Gas Pipes(NYT) Leaks in pipes transporting natural gas are startlingly common, federal
records show, but replacing the network is a daunting task for New York
City, which has one of the oldest systems in the country. Graphic: The Network of Pipes Under Manhattan’s Streets "It
is a danger hidden beneath the streets of New York City, unseen and
rarely noticed: 6,302 miles of pipes transporting natural gas. Leaks,
like the one that is believed to have led to the explosion that killed
eight people in East Harlem this month, are startlingly common, numbering in the thousands every year, federal records show."* PSC has ordered faster repairs to NYC's "decaying tangle of gas pipes" -- but also has frozen ConEd rates.

A Bronx city councilman is pushing a resolution calling for a two-year
moratorium on water rate increases after years of steep hikes, writes our Erin Durkin.
“We have a runaway water bill situation on our hands,” said James
Vacca, who is drafting the resolution and also sent a letter to the city
Water Board demanding the two-year freeze. Water bills have shot up 78%
since 2005. They went up 5.6% last year and 7% the year before that,
after double-digit spikes from 2008 through 2010.